How Researchers Could Decode Your Genes In 15 Minutes

The idea behind the Oxford Nanopore DNA sequencing systems – both the USB-key MinION and the workhorse GridION — seem pretty simple: Guide a strand of DNA through a tiny hole and use the electrical signature of the different bases to identify them.

Both systems run the same way, but when you put a large number of the machines together they can split the work and run faster. To sequence a human genome in 15 minutes you would need about 20 GridION boxes that run 8,000 pores simultaneously.